


Within the Shadows

by Sumi (SakanatoAi)



Category: Starfighter (Comic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Betrayal, Crimes & Criminals, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:43:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17251091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakanatoAi/pseuds/Sumi
Summary: This piece is a gift for Massy/@glowtide on tumblr as part of the 2018 SF Secret Santa exchange! It features quite a lot of angst, with a little violence and betrayal, and just a dash of sweetness. I had a lot of fun writing it! :)





	Within the Shadows

The night sky was inky black and flickering streetlights threw shadows across the damp pavement. Snow fell in silent wet clumps that melted away the instant they settled on the ground. Abel’s shirt was soaked through and clung to his shoulders and upper back. His eyes darted from creeping shadow to shadow—searching for movement, searching for some sign that might give away the location of his stalker. 

He couldn’t understand what he’d done to put himself in this position. What caused the sudden shift between his former partner and himself? The change between them had been abrupt and deeply unsettling. “Why are you doing this, Cain?” Abel whispered under his breath. A thin stream of vapor escaped from the space between his lips and trailed off in the air.

Something scraped against a brick wall somewhere behind him and Abel clenched his teeth. His body strained against his mind as a deep-seated instinct to flee from danger struggled to dominate his resolution to stay put. He needed to face this situation—this man—head on and figure out what exactly he’d done to deserve such a blinding betrayal. All around him shadows crept across the pavement and failing lights sputtered and hissed above his head. His senses burned with caution and his heart rate accelerated with every new noise or flicker of movement out of the corner of an eye.

Abel was unarmed and exhausted—something Cain had taken painstaking care to ensure. The two of them were completely alone, in a deserted part of the city. The sun would begin its languid climb in only a few hours. A warm burn behind his eyes told Abel he was risking a display of weakness as tears threatened to rise to the surface. He blinked hard and bit down on the bruised flesh of his lower lip. He had to keep his wits about him, now more than ever. He knew exactly what Cain was capable of and he couldn’t afford to forget that reality.

Another sound echoed across the empty expanse of sidewalk and street and brick buildings—an ear-splitting grate of steel against stone or brick. A long shadow emerged from a dark corner. Abel took several steps backward. He was running out of possible next moves. There was nowhere to run. His heel hit something small and hard on the ground and it skittered across the asphalt behind him. In a flash, Abel dropped to one knee and grabbed up the broken chunk of cement. It wasn’t heavy enough to do any damage if thrown, but it was rough and had a sharp jagged edge he might be able to use as a close-range weapon if given no other choice.

The shadow drew closer and the lights above cast Cain’s sopping hair and painful expression under harsh orange illumination. Abel choked on his next breath and shook his head. “Please, tell me why you’re doing this, Cain? Who sent you? What changed between us?”

The other man looked grim. Abel’s gaze caught on a glint of polished metal half hidden behind his right thigh. Cain kept walking toward him but didn’t open his mouth to respond to Abel’s questions.

Abel took off running, knowing there was no real hope for escape, but unwilling to sit still and wait for Cain’s knife to finish him off without at least putting up a fight. He’d been driven into a dead-end street. Unclimbable walls and a tall chain link fence caged him in with his ex-partner turned stalker. They’d been working together as common thugs for months. Under the command of an unrelenting and scheming boss, Abel had found himself trusting the more experienced man he’d been partnered with. Cain hadn’t gone easy on him. He’d made fun of Abel’s status as a green recruit and his reluctance to commit violent crimes early in their partnership. But after months of working together, Abel began to find his pace and harden against the harsh reality of his criminal life. He’d grown to admire Cain, maybe even feel something deeper.

That all shifted when Cain was called away on a secret mission for the boss. For three long days, Abel found himself completely alone for the first time in months. Cain hadn’t left behind so much as a note. Abel had only discovered what was actually going on through bribing another thug in their company: a man who’d recently lost his own partner in a gunfight. Abel found it disturbingly easy to tempt information out of him with nothing more than the gift of a stolen gold watch and some half-hearted flirtatious suggestions and caresses.

Abel swore when he reached the end of the street and locked his fingers in the chain of the ten-foot fence standing before him. He turned and saw that Cain was still coming toward him but walking slowly with a slight limp. Serves you right, Abel thought, reflecting on the lucky kick he’d managed to land earlier during his escape from Cain’s violent attack. If Cain wasn’t able to completely hide the fact he’d been injured by the kick, that meant Abel had succeeded in causing more damage than he’d originally thought. The injury might work in his favor. 

Abel turned in Cain’s direction and threw his chunk of concrete as hard as he could manage. Then, he jumped to grab as high on the fence as possible. The metal links dug into his fingers and the rounded toe of his boots made it almost impossible for his legs to get purchase. He struggled to climb several feet upwards and he heard Cain swear loudly behind him. His arms trembled from the effort of hoisting his body up as his feet kicked inefficiently to find holds on the fence.

Cain’s hand wrapped around one of Abel’s ankles and pulled hard. Abel threw his other foot back and managed to land a hard kick to Cain’s face, but he couldn’t keep hold of the frigid wet fence links and plummeted hard to the asphalt beneath him. He landed badly on his right elbow and stifled a cry of pain. He jerked his body to one side and took in the image of Cain’s face. His eyes looked dull and a stream of dark blood ran from his nose and over his lips. Abel managed a final cry of, “No!” before Cain’s hand closed over his throat and the back of his head slammed hard into the asphalt.

A moment of fear and pain passed, and then bright shining silver flashed before Abel’s eyes. Believing Cain had drawn his knife to finish him off, Abel closed his eyes and silently prayed the end would come quick and easy. The crushing weight on his windpipe dissipated and Abel marveled at how easy dying had turned out to be. Sounds of continued struggling made their way to his ears and prompted him to open his eyes. In the dim light of the street, Abel could just make out the lithe dark form of a third person standing between Cain and himself.

The third person held a long reflective blade in each hand. Just beyond, Abel could see a deep gash across one of Cain’s cheek. Cain’s knife lay several meters away on the road and he held his right hand over a spot on his upper left arm. The injured arm hung limp and useless at his side.

The new arrival took several slinking steps toward Cain, and Abel was surprised to see his ex-partner take a few halting steps back. Cain yelled something at the small man before him in a language Abel couldn’t understand. The words sounded harsh. Cain turned to go after his lost knife, but the new smaller man was faster and reached it in time to kick it back in Abel’s direction. Abel watched as this man lashed out with one of his elongated blades and left another long gash across Cain’s thigh.

Cain grunted with pain. Even from a distance, Abel could see that Cain was surprised. He was injured and exhausted from his earlier struggle with Abel. Abel watched as Cain turned and started to run, his injured leg dragging awkwardly. Abel’s savior lurched in pursuit of Cain, but Abel called out in a husky choked-off voice, “let him go!”

The man’s head shot back to look at Abel and, beneath the flickering street lights, recognition hit Abel for the first time. He’d often seen this man, who went by the name Deimos, lurking in dark corners of the warehouse base where the company thugs gathered to exchange drugs and weapons or catch a few hours of sleep in between assignments. Abel had never spoken with Deimos before, but he had been intrigued by the man’s ability to make himself unnoticed by most other men in the company.

Since Deimos’s appearance, Abel had hardly moved from his position on the asphalt. Now, he struggled to sit upright. Deimos made his way toward him. The man still held the long blades in tight fists and Abel was unsure if he should be relieved he’d been rescued or trying to make a break for it. He didn’t have the strength or stamina to get far, though, so he took his chances and watched Deimos’s slow approach with ragged breaths.

Deimos reached his side and slid his blades smoothly into hidden sheathes at each hip. Then, he crouched on the wet ground and reached forward to trace a gentle finger against Abel’s bruised throat. Abel tried to stifle a gasp and choked on his air. Coughing was painful and left him with stars dancing across his vision. Deimos drew his hand back as if he’d hurt Abel. He watched the injured man with concern in his eyes.

When he reached out again, Abel didn’t react. Deimos smoothed one hand across Abel’s neck and head, seeming to search for hidden wounds. When his hand trailed down Abel’s arm and brushed against the injured elbow, Deimos’s mouth seemed to twitch, just slightly, to form the ghost of a frown. He continued to run his hands over Abel’s torso and legs. Abel mentally berated himself when he flushed in response to the touch. Deimos, seeming content with his assessment of Abel’s physical condition, wrapped one arm around his back and helped him to his feet.

Once standing, Abel swayed a little with dizziness and pain in his head, neck, and, arm, but otherwise, he was relieved to discover he could stand and walk on his own. “Thank you,” Abel said. He turned to look at Deimos, but the other man was already a few paces ahead of him.

They walked a mile or so through side streets. Deimos kept to the shadows and moved silently with light steps. Abel tried his best to keep up with the other man and to keep as quiet as possible, but he found himself constantly kicking little pebbles and catching his arms and shoulders and hips on sharp edges and hidden protrusions.

When, at last, Deimos came to a halt, they stood in front of what appeared to be a decrepit and abandoned apartment building. Deimos grabbed the handle of the front door and pressed one hand against it to show that it was locked. Abel sighed—he wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand walking in the cold night air with his wet clothes and hair. And, they needed to find some sort of shelter or hiding place before the sun started rising, or they would be at risk of being spotted and having police set on their trail.

Deimos cleared his throat and flicked something up between his fingers. It was a small knife with a thin pointed blade. How many knives did the man carry with him, anyway? Abel watched as Deimos slide the blade in the space between the door and its frame. This time, when he jerked the handle, the door swung open silently. Abel smiled. “Handy.”

Deimos reached back and took Abel gently by the hand. Abel’s eyes went wide, and he allowed himself to be pulled into the dark hall of the building. The door swung closed behind them, clicking shut as silently as it had opened.

Deimos tugged at his hand, and Abel realized why it was important for him to be led through the pitch-black hallway. He could hear little sounds of scratching and squeaking animals in the walls and ceiling. He blinked his eyes closed and open, again and again, marveling at how the total darkness around him looked no different with his eyes opened or closed.

Deimos slowed and Abel could hear the quiet creak of a door opening before him. He was pulled inside the room and the door squeaked closed behind him. A moment later, a tiny candle blinked to life and Abel could just make out the vague outline of Deimos’s face. The man’s features were curtained-off by the dark hair that hung across his face, but Abel could see a spark of something in the man’s eye.

Safe behind a closed door, in the relative warmth of the forgotten building, Abel felt himself relax, just slightly, for the first time in days. His chest rose and fell rapidly as images of everything that he’d just gone through crowded his mind. He felt his knees go weak and before he could blink Deimos had moved closer to him and steadied him with a hand on his back and under his uninjured arm.

Deimos drew Abel forward a few steps and then guided him to sit down on a thick pile of blankets and pillows in one corner of the room. Abel settled into the soft fabric beneath him, heavy with relief. Something electric whirred to life next to him and he felt the first hint of real warmth radiating against his skin as small coils of an electric space heater warmed to a soft orange glow.

Deimos picked up the small lit candle and used it to ignite the wicks of several other candles around the room. The room remained dim, but Abel could make out more of his surroundings. A small desk piled with books and paper stood in one corner of the room. There was a low coffee table littered with unwashed mugs and a few discarded wrappers. A threadbare rug was spread across much of the floor and a few empty milk crates sat overturned against the far wall. There was no obvious bed beside the nest of blankets and cushions that Abel currently rested atop. Deimos remained standing just beside Abel.

Abel cleared his throat. “I… I don’t know how to thank you for saving me. I was certain he was going to kill me.” He looked down at his hands and tried to think about something other than Cain. His betrayer wasn’t worthy of any shed tears, and Abel shifted his attention back to Deimos. “Do you live here, alone?”

Deimos nodded and crouched down to meet Abel’s gaze on a level plane. He reached out and brushed a fingertip against Abel’s bruised and split lip. For the first time that night, Deimos spoke, “He hit you.” It wasn’t a question really. There was a note of surprise in his quiet voice.

Abel nodded and brought his own hand up to touch the bruised skin of his face. “I never expected him to…”

Anger flashed across Deimos’s face. He leaned closer to Abel and brushed a few strands of hair away from his forehead.

“How did you know to come after us? How did you find me? And why did you save me I’ve never done anything for you.”

Deimos spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “I watch you.” It was difficult to see clearly in the dim lighting, but Abel was almost certain Deimos was flushed.

“You watch… me?” Abel asked.

Deimos nodded and more of his dark curtaining hair fell across his face.

“But why?” Abel was surprised to find that Deimos’s admission didn’t make him feel uncomfortable. Instead, he was curious. He wanted to better understand the man who had stepped from the shadows and saved his life. Cain had clearly recognized Deimos from somewhere, but Abel had never spoken even a single word to the quiet man before this night. Nothing in Abel’s life seemed to be making any sense anymore.

Deimos didn’t answer Abel’s question of why immediately. Instead, he leaned forward as if he were going to whisper something in Abel’s ear. Their heads hung close together for a moment. Abel could feel the warmth of Deimos’s breath against his cheek.

Deimos moved closer even and Abel felt soft lips press against the bruised skin of his throat. His breath hitched and he sat as still as possible. Deimos pulled back a few centimeters, and then he really did whisper. “I’ve always been watching… you. Only you.”

Abel’s breath returned to him, but each inhale was shaky and uneven. Deimos placed a hand on the blankets on either side of Able and moved his lips to place the whisper of a kiss against Abel’s jaw. Everything was slow and soft and very quiet and warm. Abel relaxed a little and closed his eyes. Deimos slip his slips along Abel’s cheek until their brushed the corner of his mouth. Abel parted his lips a hair’s breadth, and that was invitation enough for Deimos, who kissed him softly against the lips.

Abel found his hand wandering to the front of Deimos’s shirt. He pinched a little bit of the fabric between his thumb and index finger and drew Deimos down onto the padding of blankets and pillows in front of him. They stayed like that for a long while—gentle whisper touches brushing each other’s bodies and the soft press of warm kisses until they were lulled to sleep, safe—for the moment—in each other’s’ arms.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
